Chili is one of those great dishes that can be served in tons of different ways and goes good with many delicious side dishes. But if you're thinking about serving chili the next time you have friends over for dinner or to watch the big game or when the weather starts getting cooler, here are some great ideas you might want to use.

Making Your Chili Even Better

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Even if you already make the best chili on your block or at your tailgate parties, you could spice it up with some toppings. Of course, you'll find some of the traditional items on the list: shredded cheeses, sour cream, oyster crackers or crumbled tortilla shells (choose the ones with a hint of lime for an nice touch), saltine crackers, or even hot sauce.

But those are a little bit basic. If you're talking about advanced chili topping for the chili connoisseur, then you'll want to shop around in your produce department or farmer's market. Adding scallions, green onions, cilantro, or avocado can give your chili a little color and extra taste. A dollop of guacamole instead of sour cream (or with sour cream) can also be scrumptious, especially if you make it homemade. Jalapenos are also nice for a kick and should be added by the individual consumers of the chili - not everyone likes the spice. Red onion or salsa can be nice additions, too.

Not Just for Bowls

Chili isn't soup so it doesn't have to be served alone in a bowl with a spoon. Instead, get creative with how you serve this dish. You can use Fritos for dipping or pour the chili on top of a baked potato, French fries, pasta (some people even add spaghetti or macaroni pasta to their chili), rice, taco shells, hamburgers or hot dogs, cornbread, or even scrambled eggs.

Chili goes good with almost any food but make sure to account for the potential messiness. Always have extra napkins.

Great Side Dishes

When you're serving chili, it's definitely hearty enough to be a main dish. And while some people like to eat their chili by itself, having some complementary side dishes can enhance the dish's flavor immensely. Cornbread is a delicious and traditional addition to chili. If you're trying to give your meal a Tex-Mex flavor, you could make Mexican cornbread with peppers, some shredded Colby/Jack cheese, and some kernel corn or if you want to make it spicier you can cut up pieces of jalapeno to add into the cornbread mix.

Black bean and corn salad is another choice. The salad, which is served cold or at room temperature, includes black beans, cubed cheeses, roasted corn, green onions, bell peppers, picante sauce, herbs, olive oil, and a few other tasty items. You can also toss in other items you love, such as avocados.

Another idea is a Southwest Vegetable salad that includes lettuce, colorful red peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and some toasted pumpkin seeds. This dish has just as much color as flavor and has a very delicious flavor especially when enjoyed along with a bowl of chili.

Side Dishes For Chili

Want more interesting side dishes for chili? Chili Everyway takes the mundane out of chili and presents fresh new ideas for spicing up this delicious comfort food that everyone will love.

If you are reading this you had a wakeup call about your blood sugar level. You probable were told that it is inevitable since you have a genetic link to diabetes by way of your father or mother. This is enough to make you happy that you can grab your syringe with insulin... Here is some news to turn your joy to ecstasy. By simply adding these 3 life saving, satisfying foods that lower blood sugar to your diet you can be back to normal before you can say, 'where's the sugar'.

Most grains are good for people with high blood sugar but I love the idea of playing with my food with oats. Go into a whole food market and you will find several bins of different kinds of granola. Read the label on the bins and look for the sugar content. Some will be as low as 3 grams of sugar, but there will be the tempting granola with 20 grams of sugar. Because you have a high blood sugar problem I would guess that you would gravitate towards the 20 gram sugar. Here is where your concern for your adrenals and blood stream should kick in and help you to pick a granola cereal with 8 grams or less of sugar.

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Make breakfast the meal with food that lower your blood sugar. Give your blood stream a rest from the white bread, doughnuts, croissants, pancakes, biscuits, hot pockets or what ever sugar laden food you were told to give up. You will find that you will soon change your palate and satisfy your need to be well again with this head start of your day. Here is an idea. With 2 handfuls of granola added to ½ cup of plain low fat yogurt and ½ cup low fat milk you can begin the foods that lower blood sugar sweet life. My favorite is coconut, almond granola. This mix is loaded with fiber from the coconut and the oats and fortified with good fat from the almonds - bring on the fiber! You heart will sing and your blood stream will be relieved enough to release its hold on sugar.

It is hard to believe that a food that begins with the word sweet could bring you some semblance of joy with its health benefits. This food might even help you adjust the intensity of your sweet tooth. Sweet potato can help stabilize your blood sugar. It helps your cells to respond to the hormone insulin, which facilitates the movement of sugar from your blood stream. The beta-carotene in the sweet potato is responsible for this reversal of insulin resistance. Sweet potatoes also have a significant amount of Vitamin B6 which helps in resisting diabetic heart disease.

Of course you know better than to make sweet potato pie! Simply bake your sweet potato in the microwave following the instruction of your model for baking vegetables. Add to salads, make a blended sweet potato soup or dice and stir into cooked brown rice, or bean soups. Your creativity will lead you in the right direction and away from the French fries.

During the day snack on nuts. Roast your own raw nuts. Turn on the oven to 425 degrees. Roast 10 minutes. I don't trust nuts that come in tin containers because I don't know the source of the oils they are prepared in. Diabetics need to be more mindful about what fats they put into their bodies. Although I don't worship at the good fat , bad fat alter, it is more beneficial for you not to eat any rancid or old oil if you are diabetic and want foods that lower your blood sugar.

These 3 little baby steps used regularly will get you well on your way to discarding your syringe and jumping for joy. After all the sticking and testing, success with diabetes is about cooking and eating wisdom.

Dumping syndrome is an effective result of the gastric bypass system which alerts the body of inappropriate eating. Dumping syndrome is described as a shock-like state when small, easily absorbed food particles rapidly dump into the digestive system. This results in a very unpleasant feeling with symptoms such as a cold clammy sweat, pallor, butterflies in the stomach and a pounding pulse. These symptoms may be followed by cramps and diarrhea. This state can last for 30-60 minutes and is quite uncomfortable.

That was the clinical description of dumping.

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This is what I experience when I dump: shortly after eating a food I don't tolerate (sugar, milk, sugary milk products or starchy carbs) I begin to feel a bit disoriented, maybe dizzy and then an overall sense of confusion or panic takes over my mind and body. This is a mild state of delirium. Then I begin sweating. Profuse sweating that can completely soak my hair, my clothes; it drips and glistens on my skin. During this state of sweaty panic I feel like I'm out of my mind! A few times during extremely dramatic dumping episodes I literally thought I was dying, the state of distress was that severe.

At this point during a dumping episode I have learned it is best to lie down on my side and let it nature take its course. The body is efficiently, albeit painfully, correcting a chemical imbalance in the cell system. It takes great presence of mind to calm myself and lay down, but even in a state of near-delirium I now know this is the only action to be taken. I know the event is passing when the sense of panic is replaced by exhaustion and cold chills instead of sweating. Occasionally I have suffered diarrhea at this point. If I have the luxury I'll try to take a nap or go to bed after dumping. If it is in the evening I'll sleep through the night, and wake feeling like I've been run over by a truck.

The mild delirium associated with dumping is the result of an interruption of nerve impulses affecting cerebral metabolism. The interruptions are caused by metabolic disturbances such as fluid or electrolyte imbalance. When the incorrect foods are consumed and dumped into the digestive system the electrolytes get out of balance. Dehydration will also cause an electrolyte imbalance. This mild delirium is characterized by a reduced ability to maintain attention to surroundings or disorganized thinking. The daily routine can become confusing. In extreme cases a person who is dumping may experience rambling, irrelevant or incoherent speech.

After the dump passes the interrogation begins: what caused that dump? I have dumped on yogurt, sugar cookies, lobster bisque and blackberry sorbet. I have dumped after one margarita. A particularly impressive dump followed a love-fest with a piece of pecan pie. Salty potato chips that should have never crossed my lips knocked me flat quicker than a prize-winning boxer could have. I have dumped a few times for which I never determined a cause. In most cases eating the inappropriate food for my gastric bypass system is the culprit. Through trial and error I can predict most things that make me dump and I avoid them contemptuously.

The most efficient way to avoid dumping is to maintain the strict regimen practiced during bariatric infancy: follow the four rules. Eat protein first making sure it comprises one-half of every meal. Avoid snacking. Avoid all sources of simple sugar; and yes, this includes cookies, cakes, candy, sodas, ice cream and sorbet. Sip water throughout the day. When you practice this eating behavior your blood sugar will not fluctuate and you will not dump. Most patients, who crave a taste of something sweet, have learned they can tolerate a bite of fruit at the end of the meal. Proceed with caution and discover what works for you.

The first reaction when dumping begins is to try and make it stop. There is a feeling of helplessness - like trying to stop an earthquake. I have tried eating myself out of it. I have tried flushing it away by drinking water. I have tried physical motion - pacing - to get myself out of it. I have not successfully stopped a dumping episode. I don't know anyone who can successfully halt a dumping episode. Sipping a sports drink like Gatorade will relieve my symptoms, although my surgical weight loss specialists do not recommended this practice. If you find something to bring relief during a dump, and it causes no further harm, then do it.

It is important to note that the dumping experience is different for every person. Some will always have extreme dumps and others more mild episodes. Individuals will notice dumping episodes will vary by incident. No two people dump the same and no two dumps are alike.

Dumping is a bittersweet fact of life after weight loss surgery. Because we must fuel our bodies by eating we will experience dumping. Adherence to the four rules will prevent dumping in most cases. However, every now and again we will be blindsided by a dump caused by a food never suspected. Keeping a list of poorly tolerated foods will help you avoid them. The acutely dramatic event of dumping is a convincing motivator to follow the rules and avoid the foods that have trigged a dumping episode.

Tired of pumpkin pie and want something different? If you have never tried pumpkin cheesecake, you are in for a treat. It is absolutely delicious, fast and easy holiday dessert -- and since I am always pressed for time, I need desserts I can make in a few minutes. It cooks for an hour, but the prep time is next to nothing. Lets' start with the basics.

Crust - Mix all crust ingredients together in a medium bowl until well blended and coated. Press into a 9" Springform pan about 3/4 the way up the sides. Set aside.

Filling - Combine sugar, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg in a small bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth (about 2 minutes). Add sugar mixture from small bowl and beat until creamy and smooth (about 1 additional minute or so). Beat in eggs and vanilla, then add pumpkin puree and combine well.

Pour into crust and bake for 1 hour. Let cool for 15 minute and refrigerate for about 3-4 hours. When fully chilled, top with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and pecans.

That's how it's done! This recipe is simply delicious and presents itself beautifully on your table. If you are pressed for time, just use a premade crust. You can even change it up a little by sprinkling some finely chopped pecans on the bottom of your premade crust to add your own touch. Enjoy.

Pumpkin Cheesecake - Fast, Easy and Delicious

If you would like to see more holiday ideas and recipes visit my website by clicking here.

C.D. Watson is the author of this article and provides free information on a variety of topics. She is an entreprenuer and has written several hundred articles in her areas of expertise and life experience. Visit http://www.everykindofmom.com and see how life, love and insanity can all come together

Most apartments are located in the city. If you live in an apartment and long for the warm, cozy atmosphere of a country home, you can certainly have it! Just because you live in a city, whether big or small, doesn't mean you have to give up a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere. Walk in the door, and feel as though you have been transported to the country where wildflowers are rampant and fresh air flows through every fiber of your being! This article will give you some tips on turning your blank, expressionless apartment in to a real home.

Start With the Furniture

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Decorating in country style requires lots of wood - the more the better. Shop around for a sofa, kitchen table and other large pieces that are made of natural looking wood such as knotty pine. You don't have to spend a fortune; you may be able to find used furniture at flea markets or online.

Wood end tables are essential as well. Once you have your tables in place, consider using lace doilies or checked pattern cloths to casually drape over the tables. Display candles in jars that have a country appeal and scents like cinnamon, vanilla or apple pie.

Decorate the Walls for Added Interest and Depth

Bare walls tend to look very stark and blank, leading to a cold atmosphere. Warm up your walls with rural or black and white prints framed in wood. You might also want to consider using a country style quilt alone on a large wall - this creates a great focal point for the room!

Don't Forget the Kitchen!

If you have room for a table in your apartment kitchen, continue with the natural or knotty pine wood theme. You may also want to top your table with a checkered or lace cloth for a continuous feel to your decor. If there is no room for a table, use antique looking bar stools at the counter. Add country candles, wooden bowls and spoons, and wildflower arrangements to enhance the country atmosphere. A wicker centerpiece for the table and wooden spice rack for the counter top are nice touches as well.

The primary things you want to remember when decorating your apartment in country style is to use plenty of natural, exposed, or antique looking wood and simply patterned cloths for table decoration. Always add those accessories and accents that you truly love - this helps add a little of your unique personality to the mix. Natural flowers, country style candles, bookcases filled with old or leather-bound books, quilts, and wicker are all great touches when decorating with country flair.

All too often, an apartment tends to look and feel just like all the others, and totally uninviting. Warm up your living spaces and make them your own! Create a style that you will love coming home to after a hard day's work. Country decor is like no other when it comes to comfort, coziness, and a truly welcoming feeling. Transform your apartment into a place you will love calling home!

Apartment Living - Create a Country Atmosphere No Matter Where You Live

Leon Tuberman has been part of the home furnishings and interior decorating business for 40 years. He owns and operates his family owned furniture store. They offer a huge assortment of solid wood furniture for your living room, home office and dining room that's built in the Heartland of America. Are you searching for an Amish dining table for your formal dining room or a coffee table for your family room then they probably have everything you need.

The rich nutrient content of carrot, especially, Vitamin A and its precursor carotene can not be questioned. It is also rich in health giving fibre. Some people relish carrot as such in its raw form and some cook and use it. Another form of utilization is extraction of juice from carrot. But carrot juice when consumed as such will not be tasty. It has to be added with sugar. Just to make the carrot juice tasty and at the same time utilize the nutrients present in the juice in its natural form, carrot juice can be added with milk to make carrot milk.

How to prepare carrot milk?

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Recipe for carrot milk

Ingredients required

Milk : 1 litre

Carrot : 100 g

Sugar : 100 g

Cardamom : 5 Nos

To prepare carrot milk, the required quantity of carrot is thoroughly washed and cleaned. Then it is cut into small pieces or it can be grated into fine pieces in a grater and beaten thoroughly after adding small quantity of water in a grinder or mixie. The outer covering of cardamom is removed and the seeds are beaten in a mixie or grinder along with small quantity of sugar (5 g) and kept separately.

The required volume of milk is taken in a container and boiled. Now add the carrot mixture and required quantity of sugar and pulverized cardamom-sugar mixture in to the boiling milk and keep boiling for a few minutes. Then stop the boiling process, filter the milk containing the carrot through a clean muslin cloth or any good filter, cool it and yes, you get the carrot milk rich in vitamin A. Serve it cool.

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DirectionsStart out by measuring just about 1/4 cup apple concentrate into a small bowl. Then stir in the cornstarch and all of the spices. Place the remainder of the apple concentrate into a large skillet with the apples. Simmer the mixture gently until the apples are just tender. Lightly stir in the cornstarch mixture until it gets quite thick. Stir in the butter. Pour into baked pie shell.

DirectionsCombine the raisins, water, margarine, cinnamon and nutmeg in a sauce pan. Cook Cook the mixture until the butter is melted. Then continue cooking for an additional three minutes. Add in the flour, egg, applesauce, sugar substitute, baking soda and vanilla extract. Mix until well blended. Spray a 8" or 9" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees F. Bake until golden brown. In about 25 to 30 minutes you will have delicious sugar free raisin bars. Enjoy!

DirectionsDrain the cherries and keep the juice. Set the cherries aside. In a saucepan, combine the cherry juice and dry pudding mix. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil and is thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin powder and sweetener until well dissolved. Stir in the cherries and transfer to baked pie shell. Cool completely. Store in refrigerator.

The South is a unique area of the country where food and culture go hand in hand. Lots of girls picture themselves transforming into a Southern belle bride on their wedding day. Traditions include holding your wedding in an old plantation style house blanketed in gardenias, camellias and roses, dressing up in the big antebellum dress, arriving in a horse drawn carriage and of course tucking your little hand under daddy's arm as he proudly escorts you down the long staircase.

If you really long to fulfill that dream of being a Southern Belle Bride then preparing a Southern wedding feast for your guests should be a top priority in making that dream a reality. Southern food is a Gourmet's delight and a reception menu of Southern dishes and drinks are going to delight the palates of even your pickiest guests. Let's begin with some authentic cocktails and foods that are going to make your dinner a real success story.

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Cocktails -

Southern drinks and cocktails are a real treat. Besides the usual bourbon, whiskey and vodka, Southern parties offer unusual but yummy concoctions of regional delights. First up, a regional favorite called Swamp Water cocktail, this drink features lemon and orange juice mixed with 1 part bourbon and 1 part rum and garnished with a sprig of mint. Magnolia blossoms cocktails, Syllabub, Mint Juleps, frozen daquires and numerous other drinks top off this selection.

Appetizers -

Most fancy wedding dinners begin with appetizers. Southern regional favorites include cucumber and watercress sandwiches, cream cheese and pineapple sandwiches, coconut shrimp with muscadine dipping sauce, strawberries and yogurt dip, deviled eggs and an extraordinary Vidalia onion dip served with Ritz crackers. Vidalia onions are legendary for their sweetness and are used in numerous recipes.

Soups and Salads -

No Southern meal would be complete without an offering of delicious soups and salads. Regional favorites include clam chowder, Brunswick Stew, Ambrosia, Dandelion Potato Salad, Crawfish Gumbo, Peanut Soup and a Waldorf Salad.

Now we are into the heart of a great Southern meal, the main dish. Famous main dish recipes you will love serving include Pecan Crusted chicken, Southern Fried chicken, Filet Mignon, Roast Leg of Lamb served with mint sauce, Barbecue Ribs dipped in authentic Southern barbeque sauce, here again, be aware that the South is famous world wide for it's barbeque. No true southern meal would be complete without it. Pot Roast, Honey cured hams and Chicken Divine, the list goes on and on.

Desserts -

Most of your guests will probably be popping at the seams by the time dessert is served but go ahead and offer up some lucious delights any how. Besides the traditional wedding cake be aware that other desserts you will love serving include ice cream cake, Dirt Cake, a delightful concoction of crushed oreos that the kids will really love. French Silk Chocolate pie, Lady Baltimore and Red Velvet Cakes, Hummingbird Cake, Divinity and Sweet Potato Pie.

Your wedding will be a Southern delight with these delicious regional favorites. If you are really not sure how to make these foods (Southern families are known for having recipes handed down from generation to generation), then consult an authentic Southern cookbook. If money is no problem hire a good Southern catering company and instruct them on the choice of foods you would like served. Bon apetit.

Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and top with a wire cooling rack; set aside. Cut pound cake into 1-inch thick slices. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out cake using cookie cutter. Place the heart-shaped cake pieces
on the wire cooling rack. Spoon 1/4 cup of vanilla frosting into a zipper-seal plastic bag and set aside. Tint the remaining frosting to a light shade of pink using food color and spoon it into a glass-measuring cup. Heat the pink frosting in the microwave for 5 to 10 seconds, or until it can be poured. DO NOT OVERHEAT. Pour the pink frosting over the heart-shaped cake pieces, covering the tops and the sides. Reuse the drippings and reheat, if necessary.

Refrigerate until set (about 30 minutes). Fill a zipper-seal plastic bag with frosting, then snip a tiny corner of the bag and use it to pipe lacy designs on the tops and sides of the heart-shaped cake pieces. Add candies to make different designs, then pipe messages on the tops with the decorative chocolate frosting.

3. Flavorageous Crispy Treats -- Kid Tested!

5 T butter or margarine

9 C miniature marshmallows (16 oz)

1 envelope Kool-Aid, any flavor**

9 C Crispy rice cereal

Grease a 10x15x1" pan. Melt butter; about 45 seconds on high in the microwave. Add marshmallows; toss to coat with butter. Microwave on high 2 1/2 minutes or until smooth; stirring every minute. Stir in drink mix. Immediately add cereal, mix lightly until well coated. Using greased spatula or wax paper, press into prepared pan. Cool. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters or cut into squares.

**Favorite Kool-Aid Flavors are Fruit Punch and Cherry

Simple to Make Sweet Treats!

Leslie Sausage lives with her husband in rural Texas. She is the mom of four grown children, a freelance writer and an elementary school teacher! She is the author of several eBooks. For creative, practical and fun ideas please visit her web site at http://www.heart4home.net

When Thanksgiving is over and all your company has gone home what do you do with all those turkey leftovers? Why not try freezing them. By freezing your turkey leftovers you will be able to enjoy fresh roasted turkey months from now when Thanksgiving and turkey leftovers are a thing of the past.

Freezing turkey leftovers is an easy and inexpensive way you can extend the life of your turkey leftovers by a few months. Turkey leftovers can be frozen up to three months with great results. Here are a few quick tips to make your freezing a success.

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o Freeze turkey in portions your family will use.

o Slice, cube and chop the turkey meat for easy packaging.

o Use zipper freezer bags for ease of storage.

o Freeze turkey with stock and vegetables for making quick stew.

o Stir fry turkey with vegetables and freeze then when ready to use thaw and serve over cooked rice.

If you only have a small amount of turkey leftover, freeze in bite size pieces. Then the next time you have leftovers you can pull out the frozen turkey leftovers and add it to casseroles or pot pie.

Do You Have Lots of Turkey Leftovers - Try Freezing Them

Shauna Hanus is a gourmet cook who specializes in creating gourmet recipes. She has extensive experience cooking with easy to find grocery items to create delightful gourmet meals. She has put together a special Thanksgiving report that gives you 73 recipes to use with your leftover turkey as well as a special holiday ice cream cookbook that includes favorites like pumpkin pie ice cream and pecan pie ice cream. She has also put together a holiday planning guide to help you have the most enjoyable Thanksgiving ever. You can find all of these at http://www.turkey-leftovers.com

Inulin is a fairly new addition to gluten free baking. A product most often extracted from chicory root, it can replace sugar and fat in some products, adds fiber, helps promote good bacteria in your gut, and may even help your body absorb calcium.

Inulin is a starchy substance found naturally in many plant roots or tubers including onion, garlic, bananas, and dandelions. Inulin is a polysaccharide, a long chain of simple sugars plants use to store energy. Because humans cannot digest these polysaccharides, inulin is considered a dietary fiber when it is added to processed foods.

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In the gut, inulin supports the growth of healthy bacteria and inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria including E coli, Clostridium difficile and Candida albicans.

Research is still continuing to discover how inulin assists in calcium absorption, but it appears that inulin makes calcium more available for the body to absorb from the colon, particularly in adolescents and young adults. This could be an important method to build stronger bones early in life and to delay or prevent developing osteoporosis later in life.

Commercially, inulin is usually extracted from chicory root although it may also be extracted from Jerusalem artichoke (sun choke) or manufactured by fermenting. The root is chopped and mixed with water to make a wet pulp. The pulp is refined to remove and purify the chicory juice, the water is evaporated and the final product is spray dried to create inulin powder.

Commercial bakers add inulin to products to replace some of the fat and sugar and to modify the texture and taste. Research reported in Food Science and Technology International found that adding inulin to gluten free bread improved the sensory qualities of the bread, something that is sometimes lacking in gluten free products. Inulin also improves the texture of reduced-fat ice cream and plain unsweetened yoghurt and it reduces the formation of ice crystals in frozen dairy products.

Inulin powder is sometimes sold as a stand-alone fiber supplement, to be mixed with water or added to food. Some people are very sensitive to its laxative effect; this tendency may be reduced by gradually adding inulin products to your diet rather than consuming a large amount at once.

Some gluten free home bakers add inulin to products to improve the fiber content of their diet. Try adding one teaspoon of inulin to muffins, cookies, cake and pie recipes. You may be able to decrease the sugar by an equivalent amount without noticing a difference. Try adding a tablespoon or more of inulin to yeast bread or roll recipes. You may be able to build up to about two teaspoons of inulin per serving, which will substantially increase the fiber content of your bread or rolls. Inulin may alter the texture of your baked products, so experiment with the amount of inulin that works with any particular recipe.

Gluten Free Eating - What is Inulin and Why is it in My Bread?

For more about gluten free eating and shopping, visit http://www.LearnToEatGlutenFree.com for a free report on "What can I eat tonight? How to get through your first few gluten-free days without feeling totally overwhelmed

Most people have bowel movements every day or every second day depending on their diet and lifestyle. Constipation is having difficulty trying to empty your bowels for more than 3 or 4 days, or having extremely hard stools that cause pain when you try to expel them from your body. You must eat food that softens your stools to relieve constipation. Eating food that makes them harden will make the condition worse.

Heavy foods like red meat, deep-fried foods like battered fish and chips, bakery products with like pastries, cakes and bread generally take a long time to digest. Food must pass through the stomach, large intestine, small intestine, colon then the bowels before the "leftovers" are passed out of the body as waste. Along the way different nutrients and water are extracted and delivered to the part of the body that requires it. The longer the process takes the more water is extracted, the drier or harder the stools become. Also if food is relatively dry to start with or inadequate water is consumed the end product (the stools) will subsequently be dry or hard.

Pies

Red meat comes from large strong animals so it's meat is tougher compared with the animals that white meat comes from. Therefore its meat takes longer to break down in our bodies because the muscles are stronger. White meat is easier to digest because fish and poultry have smaller muscles compared with cattle and pigs.

Fried food is generally oily. Oil makes the food tasty and softer in most cases but it is something the body doesn't really need. The body must work harder to extract oil and fats from food so that they can be expelled. If the body's digestive system is busy trying to neutralise other toxins that have entered the system the fat will be placed in "storage areas" around the body until it is healthy or fit enough to process it. When these "store rooms" are too crowded we feel bloated and uncomfortable.

Products which contain a lot of wheat flour and oil which have little nutritional value. Flour is basically a carrier for other foods. For example, the pastry shell of a pie is a carrier for the meat or fruit inside it, bread is what holds a sandwich together. The crust or bread simply make the filling more palatable and easier to digest. But most breads and pastries are simply flour, oil and air which contain no nutrients. Consuming more of the pastry rather than the filling will just clog up your digestive system, especially if you are constipated.

As my title promised I need to nominate the 3 top foods to avoid that someone with constipation should avoid. To narrow down the candidates we should consider foods that fall into two or all of the above three categories then pick out the ones that are consumed the most. The nominations are:

Meat pies and sausage rolls contain red meat and flour.

Fish and Chips are fried and the batter contains flour.

Barbecued or grilled steak - meat that is cooked relatively quickly doesn't break down the fatty tissue and muscles as well as slow cooked meat so when it enters your stomach it has to be broken down more by your digestive juices.

Potato chips or crisps are fried and very dry. Your body must use more water to digest this so your stools will become harder if you are already constipated.

Hard cheeses as they have most of their moisture content pressed out in their production process. As well they contain fat and protein from a large animal.

Deep fried meat like schnitzel, sweet and sour pork, fried chicken.

Bacon and eggs or sausages and eggs.

Salami and other processed meats.

My pick for the top three are meat pies, deep-fried battered fish 'n chips and potato crisps. What are yours?

Mix together butter, sugar, and flour until crumbly. Line a pie pan with pastry or use a store bought one. (Surprisingly quite good). Sprinkle 1/2 of the crumb mixture on the crust. Put peeled and sliced peaches on top of crumbs. Sprinkle with water and nutmeg. Put rest of crumbs on top of peaches and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

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Note: Peaches can be peeled easier if you put them in very hot water for a few minutes.

This cake was born when my father decided to become a blueberry farmer. He had 100 bushes and sold many pints to the local fruit and vegetable stands, but there was always a surplus. This cake recipe is very good, as it is very thick, and the blueberries don't sink to the bottom of the pan. USUALLY.

In medium bowl, combine butter, confectionery sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Beat with electric mixer. If needed adjust the amount of milk until frosting is the consistency you like. Frost cake in the pan and decorate with a few blueberries.

Mix together sugar, flour, and salt. Add to the eggs and stir in rhubarb. Pour into pie crust. Top with top crust, and crimp. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with a little granulated sugar. Bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Mix together flour, salt, sugar,and vegetable shorting until crumbly. Beat remaining ingredients together and mix with flour mixture. Form into a ball and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before rolling out on a floured surface.

Enjoy Some Yummy Springtime Desserts That Have Been Past Down In Our Family

It always seems like if you plant even one zucchini plant, you have enough zucchini to feed a very large family plus the neighbors. So, of course, there is then the question of what to do with all of that zucchini. It always amazes me that zucchini can taste so good in baked goods. Hope you enjoy these two baking recipes for zucchini!

In a large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar. Mix in the egg, vanilla, orange rind, and zucchini. Add in the flour and baking soda. Mix in the granola cereal. Then mix in the butterscotch or chocolate chips. Grease a cookie sheet and put teaspoonfuls of the dough onto the sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix the sugars, oil, and margarine together. Add the egg into the mixture one at a time. Mix in the buttermilk and vanilla. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and cocoa. Add in the zucchini and dry mixture by alternating. Add in the chocolate chips, raisins, and nuts. Grease a 9x13-inch pan and pour the batter into it. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.

It's autumn, and veggie shops are overflowing with beautiful golden pumpkins. Pumpkin is a highly nutritious vegetable, rich in antioxidants, fiber and vitamins, so it's a great way to add goodness to fall menus.

You can substitute canned pumpkin in any recipe using pumpkin puree, but you'll get a better flavour if you cook fresh pumpkin yourself. For the best flavour, slice and seed fresh pumpkin and roast in a medium oven for 30-40 minutes until tender. When cool enough to handle, remove skin and mash or blend the flesh. Alternatively, peel and seed raw pumpkin, cut into chunks, place in a large pan with the minimum of water and simmer until tender. Drain thoroughly and mash, blend or process to a puree.

Pies

Here are 5 ideas for using fresh pumpkin.

Pumpkin soup Pumpkin makes wonderful soup. Cook cubes of fresh pumpkin in vegetable stock, adding other vegetables such as onion, leek, potato, carrot or turnip if you wish. When the vegetables are tender, puree in a blender or food processor. For extra savour, add spices like cinnamon or nutmeg. Ground or grated fresh ginger also work well.

Pumpkin cakes Add up to 175ml (1 cup) pureed pumpkin to teabread recipes, for moistness. Always use spice with pumpkin, because its natural flavour is very mild. Traditional choice is a mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice.

Pumpkin pies Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without a pumpkin pie. The simplest way to make one is to use bake a pastry case or pie crust (or buy a good quality ready-made one). For enough filling for two 9-inch (20cm) pie crusts, mix 450 ml (2 ½ cups) pumpkin puree, fresh or canned, with 5 fl oz low-fat evaporated milk, three beaten eggs and 1 ½ tsp cinnamon, ¾ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp each nutmeg and allspice (but check before adding spices, as some canned pumpkin comes ready-spiced). Bake for 15 mins at 425F/220C/gas 7, lower the temperature to 350F/180C/gas 4 for another 40 minutes.

Pumpkin pancakes Great for breakfast, these are whizzed up in minutes. Substitute 90ml (1/2 cup) pumpkin puree for the same quantity of milk in your favourite pancake recipe and cook in a hot pan, pouring just enough batter to make small pancakes.

Pumpkin in savoury dishes Try cubed pumpkin, browned with onion and garlic, then simmered in a tomato sauce with a dash of chilli. Great with pasta or rice. Or use pumpkin in risotto. Finely chop and soften 4 shallots or one onion in a little olive oil. Stir in 250g ( 1 ½ cups) risotto rice, 500g (3 cups) grated fresh pumpkin (use a food processor to do the grating), then gradually add 850ml (5 cups) hot vegetable stock, making sure each addition has been absorbed into the rice before you add the next. When rice and pumpkin are tender, stir through a generous grating of Parmesan cheese, and leave to stand, covered for 10 minutes to allow the rice to swell.

Pumpkin is only in season for a couple of months, so make the most of it this year in these fresh pumpkin recipes.

Fresh Pumpkin Recipes: 5 Great Ways to Use Fresh Pumpkin

Elizabeth Martyn is webmaster at http://www.healthy-eating-made-easy.com, where she provides information, tips and recipes on using seasonal, fresh ingredients to feed the family healthily and without hassle.

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